We’ve lost our confidence.
And we spent our whole lives building it. From learning to walk, to receiving our report cards in school, to earning degrees, getting promotions, buying property or taking vacations.
All those activities told us we were doing okay. That we were moving in the right direction.
Then suddenly, all that certainty was gone. People lost jobs. Schools closed. We became isolated in our homes not knowing when we might be able to go back to life as we knew it.
Our confidence dwindled. All the small daily interactions that showed us who we are disappeared. When we helped someone on the train ride to work it made us feel like a good person. When we told a joke that made a colleague smile it made us feel happy. When we heard our kids tell stories about a successful day at school or about receiving a post-secondary acceptance letter it made us feel like all was well in the world.
So where do we go from here? We must build up our confidence again. And we must build it up with hope.
Setting a schedule gives us hope that we’ll accomplish something.
Doing some stretches or going for a walk gives us hope that our body will be energized.
Reaching out to our friends and family virtually gives us hope that we are still the same person we were before the pandemic.
Because we are.
Hope is an essential need. Especially for our mental health. Hope gives us some control. It reminds us that we can make a difference. Helps us remember that we are enough. And epic. And invaluable. And loved.
Each little burst of hope is a stepping stone towards getting our confidence back. And once we get it back, there’s no telling how many silver linings we’ll find on this incredible journey we call life.